The Grow Hardee Scholarship is designed to be a reverse scholarship which incentivizes individuals with undergraduate college degree(s) or trade/technical/vocational/industry certification(s) to live in Hardee County, Florida.

Applicants who have graduated from an accredited postsecondary undergraduate or trade/technical/vocational/industry school program are eligible to apply for the scholarship. The applicant may apply for a scholarship award in an amount equal to the total expenditures he or she incurred for tuition and school-assessed fees minus previous scholarships or grants received during the degree or certification attainment.  The scholarship is not contingent on the existence of paid or unpaid student loans. Students who have accessed Florida Pre-Paid funds are eligible to apply for the scholarship.  

An applicant who is currently seeking or has been awarded a graduate degree, may have the eligibility window requirement, explained below, for the undergraduate degree graduation date extended if the applicant attended graduate school directly after undergraduate school and if the applicant applies for the scholarship within three (3) years of graduate school graduation. Tuition or fee expenditures incurred for graduate degree(s) are not eligible to be recovered by a scholarship awarded by the Foundation.

A full-time military service member may have the eligibility window requirement for the undergraduate degree or trade/technical/vocational/industry certificate graduation date extended if the application is made within three (3) years of military discharge.  

A successful scholarship recipient must establish and prove residency within Hardee County for 365 days before receiving any reverse scholarship award benefits.  

Selection of scholarship awardees is made by a committee of the Foundation that reviews applications on an objective and nondiscriminatory basis. The scholarship committee determines the amount of each scholarship, with the maximum amount being the amount of tuition and fees paid by the applicant, but with lesser amounts awarded based on funds available.  In addition any funds received from the  Biden-Harris Administration  Student Loan Debt Relief will be deducted from the potential award.   The total amount awarded by the committee will be payable to the awardee in five equal annual installments if Hardee County residency is maintained for five consecutive years following the award. These installment payments will continue through the five years unless the awardee moves out of the County at which time all payments cease. Residency must be verified annually by each awardee no earlier than 30 calendar days prior to and not after the anniversary date of the award and before payment of that year's installment is made.

The application deadline for scholarship awards for the calendar year 2023 February 2, 2024.

In order to receive a scholarship award, each awardee must consent in writing to the Foundation's publication of the awardee's name and award amount. Any disclosure of information will be in accordance with Florida's Public Record's Law.

If you require reasonable accommodation completing this application on account of visual impairment or other factors, contact educationfoundationhardee@gmail.com for assistance in completing the application and submitting necessary supporting documentation.


2023 Grow Hardee Scholarship Application window: Oct. 2, 2023-Feb. 2, 2024